Racist and judgemental, Ruby Turpin believes she is a holy woman, always keeping her rude thoughts to herself. Ruby believes since she is a church going white woman, she should be allowed to rise up to heaven. However, after a holy encounter with a young girl leaves her to self reflect, Ruby realizes she is not as holy as she thought she was. Revelation written by Flannery O'Connor portrays the themes racism and judgement through Ruby’s character and uses the elements of ethos, pathos, and logos to help support those themes. To begin, Ruby Turpin is a southern, church attending, white woman who lives on a farm with her husband, Claud, while raising pigs. One day, Ruby and Claud visit a doctor's office to have an ulcer he received checked …show more content…
During this banter between people, Mary Grace stares into Ruby, as if she could hear Ruby’s awful thoughts. However, unbeknownst to Ruby, Mary Grace is a holy being, despite being “ugly.” Mary Grace is there to inspire Ruby’s revelation, her name giving away her holiness to the reader. As Mary Grace stares, her hatred and intense negative feelings get stronger for Ruby. Mary Grace sees through Ruby’s fake exterior and sees her for who she truly is, nothing close to holy. This anger shows O’Connor’s varying uses of pathos. In this instance, O’Connor uses Mary Grace’s anger to touch the reader and become keen with their emotions, as any sensible person would be outraged at Ruby’s vile thoughts. Once Mary Grace has had enough of Ruby’s behavior, she slams her book down and lunges across the room, grabbing Ruby by the neck and squeezing. Mary Grace is then pulled from Ruby’s body and is placed on the ground, where she begins thrashing, her eyes rolling back and forth in her sockets. This description of Mary Grace’s eyes moving without pause can be connected to the Eye of Providence, also known as the Divine Providence, which represents God’s intervention in the world and that God is an all-knowing being. Mary Grace is …show more content…
Ruby’s revelation of all man being created equal in God’s eyes gives a valuable and vital lesson to the reader. The lesson is obvious to most, that a person should never be judged by surface value. Even if the reader is not one of religious practice, this lesson is universal and she be known to
When Ruby goes to her room the reader discovers that Ruby is very a materialistic girl, she begins to complain about her phone as well as how she requires makeup to look good when she goes out, she’s more worried about her appearance than the real problem at hand which is acid rain that can brutally murder someone if they come in contact with it. Simon informs that her shower and sink are temporarily disabled until further notice, this infuriates Ruby which causes her to yell and almost erupt in tears, and this shows that she is very concerned about her presentation to go visit her boyfriend who’s on the verge of death in a post apocalyptic setting. Ruby’s neighbor, Mrs. Fintch asks for assistance and that she requires medicine due to the fact that she was infected and was currently bleeding at a rapid state. Ruby suggests her mom to ignore her and just forget she’s there, to save the medicine for people who really matter like herself. Her mom gives Ruby a foul look and continues to give Mrs. Fintch the medicine, Ruby says she’s wasting her time, but her mom continues to aid the poor old lady who is in desperate need. After people read
Though this Southern Christian white woman is superficially pleasant and well-mannered, she conceals her ugly thoughts of class stratum cognizant of what is below her pedestal. A church going woman who treats slaves fairly, she believes her time volunteered and philosophy of doing things for others are enough to sanctify her ugliness on the inside. The omniscient narrator observes that “Mrs. Turpin felt at awful pity… it was one thing to be ugly and another to act ugly” (473) Ironically, Mrs. Turpin is the one who acts ugly. Arrogant about her station in life, when faced to choose between “a nigger or white-trash” she would plead with Jesus to “let [her] wait until there’s another place available” (472). Silently judging others she is pleased to not be anything less socially acceptable than she already is, and often occupies herself at night classifying people. Mrs. Turpin believed that you “had to have certain things before you could know certain things;” this consequently places her on a higher plane (474).
In Flannery O’Connor’s “Revelation” Mrs. Turpin, is portrayed as a judgmental person who is racist and highly opinionated. She considers herself a moral, respectable Christian. She feels far superior to those that she is confined in a doctor’s waiting room with during the majority of the story. Turpin’s antics force the reader to perceive her as a character with a warped sense of others. The only person she relates to is a “well dressed, pleasant lady” with a daughter that she thinks is ugly. O’Connor uses irony through a series of events that cause Mrs. Turpin to experience a “revelation” that may convince her to change her racist and judgmental ways.
In his article “Latin Names and Images of Ugliness in Flannery O’Connor’s ‘Revelation’,” literary scholar Ronald E. Pepin writes about the prevalence of ugliness in this addition to O’Connor’s continuum. He begins his analysis with the main character and protagonist; Ruby Turpin. Ruby is portrayed as self-righteous and blind to her own flaws. Her judgmental nature and entitled attitude lead to conflict with other characters; most notably antagonist Mary Grace, who quickly sees the “ugliness” within Ruby Turpin. In the short story, Mary Grace quietly sits across the doctor’s office from Mrs. Turpin trying to distract herself from Ruby’s racist and condescending comments; but fails to withhold her anger and lashes out verbally and physically. According to the article, Ruby is the only character who’s
When will the end come? It is human nature for humans to ask questions. Many of these questions are without answers and there is no possible way to come up with one. A common question that plagues the human race is “When will the world end?” For thousands of years, astrologers and psychics have been trying to come up with clues to when it all will end. There is a source, the Bible, which aids humans, specifically Christians, in trying to come up with some answers. Many places in the Bible such as Revelations, Ezekiel, Matthew, Daniel, and I Corinthians all give some clues to how and when the end of the world will come. Two articles that give some insight on this subject are “Visions or Heaven, Dreams of the End” by
Known for implementing religious views into her writing, Flannery O’Connor composes the short story, “Revelation”, which includes her views on morality and ethics in society. Through a religious lens, O’Connor writes of the life of a woman, Mrs. Turpin, who is in her forties and who regularly reminds herself that she is an acceptable member of society, because she is not “white trash” nor is she part of the lower class African Americans. Engulfed and blinded by her hypocrisy, the woman constantly judges those around her and is only polite to her African American workers so that they will continue to work for, thus all her “good deeds” are never truly genuine, because she does them in order to benefit herself. O’Connor portrays themes such
Mrs. Turpin in Flannery O’Connor’s short story Revelation, is a prejudice and judgmental woman who spends most of her life prying in the lives of everyone around her. She looks at people not for who they are, but for their race or social standing. In fact, Mrs. Turpin is concerned with race and status so much that it seems to take over her life. Although she seems to disapprove of people of different race or social class, Mrs. Turpin seems to be content and appreciative with her own life. It is not until Mrs. Turpin’s Revelation that she discovers that her ways of life are no better then those she looks down upon and they will not assure her a place in Heaven.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a light skinned women who is trying to look for love. Her Grandmother, arranges her marriage with Logan, which ends up failing because it lacked true love. Then, Janie marries Jody, which ends in a divorce because of Jody’s controlling personality. Finally, she finds the love of her life Tea Cake, and lives a happy life. The role of violence in this novel is very important. The way Janie’s husbands treat her effects their relationship. Janie wants to be with a man who treats her equally, and with respect. She does not want to be controlled, which is the reason why she left her other marriages. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston conveys the message that the purpose of violence is to gain control and power.
Mary Karr’s life consists of many major changes and dark times. Her early childhood was riddled with struggles such as abusive, unstable parents (The Poetry Foundation), drug use, and being victim of rape by an older boy (McFadden). Her adulthood was unconventional as well, including alcoholism (The Poetry Foundation), but Karr made several realizations and modifications in her lifestyle, including becoming a Catholic. The struggles and change Karr experienced in the past greatly affect her views on life as well as her writing, which is sometimes autobiographical. Karr’s tough background helps her works show different views of reality; she can portray all parts of her life, positive, negative, and times of change, through her words.
“Revelation”, a short story written by Flannery O’Connor focuses on themes of racism, religion, and judgment brought to a waiting room of a doctor’s office. Ruby Turpin, who takes the role of the protagonist, is an insecure Christian with prejudice views on society. Mrs. Turpin has an unhealthy habit of placing people in their “proper categories”. The waiting room was filled with people from several of these categories, which Mrs. Turpin seemed to make a game of judging and placing them based on appearance and stereotypes. Mrs. Turpin engaged with every occupant in the room, some of whom agreed with her beliefs and ideologies while one in particular, was not fond of Mrs. Turpin at all. Ruby Turpin who sees herself as a divine Christian, has
Mrs. Turpin in the story Revelation by Flannery O’Connor is a very interesting character. Mrs. Turpin thinks of herself as a righteous Christian. She depicts herself as a respectable and very charitable person. She views herself as a morally superior person that is going to save come judgement day. Mrs. Turpin in reality has not one of these qualities, although she promotes herself as women, that is saved and going to receive an eternal bliss. Instead of having true Christian qualities she is judgmental and a racist. One is able to view the way Mrs. Turpin racism by looking at the way she judges people on her ranking system. At the bottom of her ranking system is Blacks and White Trash and above that are people that are homeowners. Above the homeowners are the people with homes and own land which was her class and the last rank was peopled with home, land and are rich. Given this example, this illustrates the
This essay will argue that the eschatology of the Book of Revelation forms an integral part of John’s attempt within the pages of his book to form a literary world in which the forms, figures, and forces of the earthly realm are critiqued and unmasked through the re-focalization of existence from the perspective of heaven. It will attempt to show that, in response to the social, political, religious, and economic circumstances of his readers, the Book of Revelation forms a counter imaginative reality. Through drawing upon an inaugurated sense of eschatology and evocative imagery, John is able to pull the reader in and show them the true face of the imperial world and consequences of its ideology, forcing the reader allegiance to fall
A question that has perplexed humans through the ages is if we have the ability to reach God. The witness of Scripture and leading theologians attest that individuals have a limited knowledge of God through general revelation in the natural world. General revelation can provide valid knowledge that there is a God, which aids in the acceptance of special revelation.
To start this off, I don’t know much about the New Testament but I can name a few specifics. For instance, the first four books of the New Testament are all the same story just different perspectives. I know that the book of Revelation is a story of the end of times, written by John. However, Jesus was speaking through John, as he wrote the book. I know that Jesus was born of a virgin, named Mary. Jesus, before his time, had performed his first miracle of turning water into wine. By the age of thirteen, John the Baptist had baptized him. From that moment on, Jesus was now the man he was called to be, our Savior. I know that Jesus traveled through the Middle East, to more place than we know, performing miracles, such as, healing a leper, making
The book of Revelation was written by the apostle John, in an apocalyptic literature style. It consists of a series of prophecies about the end times, when Jesus will return and triumph over all the evil residing in the world. Its purpose is to bring hope and encouragement to Christians so that they will continue watching for the return and victory of Jesus Christ, but it is also a warning of the Final Judgment that nonbelievers will endure. The depiction of the cosmic battle that takes place both in heaven and on earth, symbolic language, and introduction of surreal